Stocking stretcher



STOCKING STRETCHER Filed July 14, 1947 IN V EN TOR. BERNARD coma w.

Patented Nov. 22, 1949 This-invention relates to improvements in devicesfor drying hose, stockings and'the like withoutshrinkage; the" devicebeing particularly useful in drying woolen hose which have a .pro-.

nounced tendency to shrink upon being; washed" and dried;

While many devices have'beenproposed'for" the aforementioned purpose, itis an object of the present invention to. providea simple, compacthose-drying device having a minimum number; ofparts :which may be.easily; fabricated and inexpensively assembled torpizodncera dun-z;-

able and efficientunit.

Another objecirof the invention is the provision of: a hose-dryingdevicevof the character":

indicated which may be .easily.;adjustedatolany. desired: sizeandwhichwill retain..its adjustedi position securely, and positively-whilethe: hose. or stocking is pulled over the device and during the dryingprocess.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a hose-dryingdevice free from any catches, projections or the like which might injurehose in the operation of being pulled over the device.

The foregoing objects, as well as additional objects and advantages ofthe invention will be readily apparent in the course of the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingwhich illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a hose-drying device embodying thefeatures of the invention and showing the adjustable foot portion of thedevice in completely retracted position.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1,and clearly showing the series of spaced corrugations on the slidablefoot portion with which the transverse bar of the frame is selectivelyengageable.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1,illustrating the slidable engagement of the parallel arms of the framewithin the marginal sleeves formed in the foot portion.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation similar tion of the devicepartially extended, the transverse bar of the frame being engaged in oneof the intermediate members of the series of corrugations in the footportion.

device comprises. a frame I 0. preferably formed. as a. unitarystructure from a piece of wire in.. simulation of? the contour of' theleg and foot and having a pair'oflarms or branches I I' in-.

ter'connected" by a transverse bar I2 at the lowerend of said frame.Inorder to, impart rigidity toframe' Ill'; one. of the arms II ispreferably.

turned 'inwardly at it'slupper end and secured to" the other of'saidarms" by soldering, welding or'irr any other desired manner; to form theupper" connecting arrn I31" Frame II! is" also'provide'd'; with anupper'hook I 4 for" suspending the' device conveniently.

Anextensible toe-plate" I 5 is provided adjustablyandslidably-engageablewith'thelower portion of frame I0, defined b arms IIand'trans' verse barlzi saidtoe plate-is preferably formed with anintegral} U '-shaped; hollow marginal flange extending completely aroundthe side edges and lower rounded edge thereof to define sleeves I6. Theinner edge Ita of sleeves I6 is spaced from the body of the toe-plate I5for the slidable reception of transverse bar I2 of the frame I0, thearms II each being disposed slidably within a respective sleeve I6 ofsaid toeplate. The extremities of transverse bar I2 are preferablyswaged or reduced in thickness adjacent the points where saidextremities merge with arms I I, as indicated at H.

Toe-plate I5 is further provided with a series of spaced corrugations,or depressions I8, for selective engagement with the transverse bar I2in order to adjust the frame I!) to any desired size of hose orstocking. Said corrugations may be struck from the body of toe-plate I5by a simple stamping operation.

In order to prevent inadvertent separation of toe-plate I5 from arms IIand transverse bar I2, the upper end of each sleeve I6 is preferablycrimped over, as shown at I9, after frame I [I has been engaged withsaid toe-plate in the above-described manner.

In the actual operation of drying hose or stockings, the article ispulled over the device after adjusting said device to the proper sizeand the device is hung or suspended to dry the article. Slidabletoe-plate I5 may be simply and easily adjusted toward or away fromtransverse bar I2 of frame I0, said transverse bar being selectivelyengageable with that particular member of the series of corrugations ordepressions I8 which will fix the toe and foot portion of the device tothe proper size to conform to the foot of the hose or stocking to bedried without Referring now to the drawing in detail, the shrinkage Ifdesired, the corrugations IB may It will be noted that by formingsleeves [6 as an integral, U-shaped, hollow flange extending completelyaround the sides and rounded edge of toe-plate 15, the retraction ofsaid toe-plate with respect to transverse bar I 2 is automaticallylimited, as clearly shown in Fig. l, to the point where the width ofsaid toe-plate between the inner surfaces of said sleeves becomes lessthan the overall length of transverse bar 12. Thus, the need forseparate limiting or stop means is eliminated and the design of thedevice is simplified.

Since certain modifications may be made in the device of the inventionwithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the foregoing specification and shown in the accompanyingdrawing be interpreted merely as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the character described for shaping and drying hose,stockings and the like, said device comprising a unitary frame having apair of spaced arms defining a leg portion and a lower transverse barinterconnecting said arms, and a toe-plate extensibly and adjustablyengageable with said frame, said toe-plate having a linear upper edge, apair of side edges and a rounded lower edge continuous with said sideedges, said toe-plate having an integral marginal flange coextensivewith said side edges and said rounded edge to define a pair of sleevesfor the reception of the arms of said frame, the inner edge of saidsleeves being spaced apart from the body of said toe-plate, theextremities of said transverse bar being reduced in thickness adjacenteach arm of said frame, said reduced extremities of said transverse barbeing slidable between said inner edge of said sleeves and the body ofthe toe-plate, said toe-plate having a series of transverse corrugationsselectively engageable with said transverse bar for the extension andretraction of said toeplate in a step-wise manner.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the ends of said sleevesadjacent the linear edge of said toe-plate are crimped against the bodyof said toe-plate to prevent inadvertent separation of said toe-platefrom said frame.

BERNARD CORWIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,465,205 Berendsen Aug. 14, 19281,723,489 Richards Aug. 6, 1929 1,969,731 Doty Aug. 14, 1934

